“I don’t hide,” I lie.
He looks at me, eyes sharp. Then he turns and opens the drawer again and pulls out shears.
He holds them up for a second, letting me see the choice. Letting me understand this is a line he’s about to cross.
“Sit,” he says.
My body obeys before my pride catches up. I sit on the closed toilet lid, staring at the fog-stained shower glass while he stands behind me.
He gathers my hair low at the nape, collecting it like he’s taking control of something that has been slipping through his hands.
“Stay still,” he says.
My throat tightens. “Maksim—”
“Still.”
The first cut is decisive.
Weight slides off my shoulders in a single heavy drop, and my stomach turns over as cool air hits the back of my neck.
He doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t ask again. He cuts the rest with quick, clean motions, then goes back in with smaller snips—tightening the line, evening it out.
Just blunt. Intentional. Clean.
He works like he does everything: as if he refuses to be uncertain. When he’s finished, his hands land on my shoulders.
He tilts me slightly toward the mirror.
My hair sits at my chin now—soft blunt, the ends neat, the shape sleek. It frames my face. It makes my jaw look sharper. My eyes too exposed.
I look…different.
Less hidden.
I reach up and touch the ends, breath catching on something I can’t name.
Maksim watches my reflection like he’s waiting for me to flinch. Waiting for regret. Waiting for me to run.
“You’re not allowed to hate it,” he says.
I let out a breath that almost becomes a laugh. “That’s not how that works.”
His mouth tightens, then loosens—almost a smile, but not quite. “It is with me.”
I should argue. Instead I stand and step in front of the mirror, staring at myself, at the line of my throat, at how much of me is visible now.
He moves behind me chest close behind me and picks up the dye again.
“What are you doing?” I ask quickly.
“Adding,” he says, like the word covers everything.
He drags a little purple through the ends, just a whisper, not a full dip. Enough to mark.
I tense. “Maksim—”
“Stay,” he says.
